Helen Ward

• Degree: Law and European Legal Studies, University of Bristol
• Joined: Autumn 2005
• Practice area/group: Insurance/Reinsurance Litigation
• Office location: London
• Favourite book: ‘Happy Accidents’ by Tiffany Murray

I currently advise on a variety of insurance and reinsurance issues, with half of my workload concerning retail insurance products such as home, travel and motor insurance. As well as advising on general regulatory issues, I am involved in reviewing policy wordings and drafting distribution agreements between those who sell retail insurance – such as supermarkets and banks – and the insurers that underwrite the products.

The rest of my workload comprises reinsurance transactional and regulatory work, such as advising on the terms of catastrophe and terrorism reinsurance agreements and other regulatory issues. We recently advised clients on the interpretation in travel insurance policies of the ash cloud following the eruption of the Icelandic volcano, which had a huge impact on the insurance industry. We have also advised clients in relation to potential mis-selling of payment protection insurance (“PPI”), which has become a hot topic for 2011.

The thing I like most about Hogan Lovells is the people; my colleagues excel at what they do and are a genuine pleasure to work with. It is also reassuring to know that, rather than instruct external experts, I can call colleagues in London who are experts in data protection, IT, intellectual property and tax, as well as insurance/reinsurance colleagues in other jurisdictions.

As a student, I did work experience in a high street firm, a magic circle firm, a regional firm and then Hogan Lovells; it provided a useful overview of the industry, making it easier to decide what kind of firm I wanted to work for. Any legal work experience is useful, so my advice to students is to apply to different kinds of firms and consider pupillages and in-house legal departments as well. Never rule out or undervalue work experience or paid work outside the legal industry. The time I spent in a bank call centre was enormously helpful, providing a first hand insight into the operational processes and issues affecting financial institutions. I therefore have an understanding of how the agreements we draft are interpreted ‘on the ground’, which enables me to devise creative solutions to the regulatory problems affecting our retail insurance clients.